Epistemic Justice: The Right to Speak as a Knower

Sor Juana's opponents didn't merely deny her platform—they questioned her authority to know, suggesting her learning was unnatural, her theology presumptuous, her intellectual ambitions unseemly. This is epistemic injustice: being systematically excluded from recognition as a knower. Libertarian justice protects not just speech but the right to be heard as someone whose testimony and reasoning matter. This differs from demanding agreement or equal influence; it means removing the coercive barriers that prevent your voice from being considered credible. Gender, race, class, and institutional status all create systematic credibility deficits. Sor Juana's genius was documented, yet she was silenced—not because her arguments were weak but because her identity as woman violated expectations about who could think. Libertarian justice demands removing these coercive epistemic barriers. It doesn't guarantee equal credit or outcomes, but it protects against systematic exclusion from the category of knower. In modern contexts, this means examining who controls publishing, who gatekeeps expertise, and whether credential systems serve merit or protect monopoly. Epistemic freedom is foundational to intellectual property and autonomous thought.